Friday, June 18, 2010

HUD Asks for Public Comment on RESPA Rules Regarding Affiliated Business Arrangements

As recently stated on the OAITA blog,

HUD has just announced that it is now seeking public comment until September 1, 2010 concerning the "required use" of controlled business arrangements by way of the Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR).

You can make comments hereClick on the Public Submissions to see the comments from others.

The purpose of the ANPR is to solicit information that can be used to inform any future revision or clarification of the regulatory definition of the "required use" of affiliated settlement service providers in residential mortgage transactions.

While that sounds broad, the ANPR is principally directed at homebuilders. The ANPR was launched once before and tabled in 2008. The latest ANPR is in response to the complaints that homebuyers have sent to HUD concerning the practice of homebuilders forcing their customers to use a builder's affiliated mortgage lender in exchange for construction discounts, etc.

The specific requests HUD provided within the latest ANPR suggest a sole focus on the homebuilder question, not realtor-owned or bank-owned CBAs. With the weakened state of the homebuilder lobby and the desire on the part of real estate and bank lobbies to squeeze more business out of the settlement service market, look for the homebuilders to get creamed with this rule.

Further driving a pessimistic view of the ANPR is the fact that the former guru of the CBA program for Long & Foster Realty is now the Director of FHA within RESPA and has heavy influence over the Interstate Land Sales office from which RESPA compliance activities are launched.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Closing Date and Possession Date the Same! Really?

In the past within the central Ohio real estate market place, it was more common that the closing date was different than the possession date. The closing date is the day title legally changes hands. When the buyer gets possession of the property is always negotiable.

Again, it used to be customary in our area to give the seller an extra 3 to 4 days to move out completely. Ideally, in a perfect world the buyer gets possession on the day the deal closes, however, in today’s crazy last minute world, I’m not so sure that possession date and closing date should ever be the same. For both the buyer and seller, this can wreak havoc on their personal and financial lives.

Within the last year, we have seen closing after closing where the seller has moved out of the house only to find that the buyer does not get approved until the very last minute or not at all.

We have even had deals where the buyer's loan was still in underwriting and "not approved" until they walked into the closing room. I could write a chapter or two on "bomb outs". This does not make good sense for either side when they have their moving trucks in our parking lots and it doesn’t close that day or worse off doesn’t close the next day or even weeks later.  You can only imagine the ramifications.

2010 Multi-Chamber Business After Hours & Expo

PLEASE STOP BY OUR BOOTH!

The Dublin Chamber, in conjunction with the Westerville, Worthington and Powell Chambers of Commerce, will host the 2010 Chamber Business Expo. One of the best business development events of the year, the Expo brings together more than 100 vendors and 600 area business representatives!

The 2010 Chamber Business Expo takes place from 4:30 to 7 p.m. June 17 at the Bridgewater Banquet & Conference Center, 10561 Sawmill Pkwy., Powell.

Admission is free to this great networking event. Complimentary hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar are available. In addition, you will have the opportunity to enter to win one of many great door prizes.

To RSVP to attend as a guest, please submit the form below.

https://www.dublinchamber.org/_register.cfm?eventID=515&CFID=6040135&CFTOKEN=35493414